Philip Glass Menagerie: The Composer on 26 Years of the Tibet House Benefit Concert

World-renowned composer Philip Glass may be in his 80th year, but he insists that the show must go on. On Monday evening at Carnegie Hall, Glass will curate, for the 26th consecutive year, the annual Tibet House Benefit Concert.

“That first year we had Laurie Anderson and myself,” says Glass, 79, “and it never occurred to me that we would continue doing it all these years. But as long as the show keeps raising money and awareness for Tibet, I hope to keep doing it.”

If you think of this yearly benefit as The Muppet Show, then Glass is Kermit the Frog, manically and enthusiastically wrangling an eclectic gaggle of musicians for a night of solo performances and often unforgettably idiosyncratic collaborations. To wit, last year millennial pop star Miley Cyrus performed with punk princess Patti Smith on the latter’s iconic anthem, “People Have the Power.” That same night the Flaming Lips covered David Bowie’s “Warszawa” and, teaming with vocalist Julianna Barwick and the Scorchio String Quartet, did an ethereal version of the Beatles’ “She’s Leaving Home.” Newsweek